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Last week, during a joint speech by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, colleague parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I raised a sign calling for the recognition of Palestine. We were forcibly removed from the legislative session, revealing the fragile state of what's often portrayed as the "sole democracy in the Middle East". How can leaders talk about Middle East peace while refusing to acknowledge a people deprived of basic liberties and rights under long-standing occupation?

The Situation in the West Bank

In no place is the deceit more evident than in the controlled West Bank. There, talk of reconciliation sound distant and faint, while the frightening echoes of settler violence and intimidation continue loudly. Over 30 occurrences of settler aggression against Palestinians have been documented since the announcement of the US peace proposal in September's end, including attacks, theft of crops, and burning of vehicles and property.

Systematic Aggression During Agricultural Period

The rise in settler terrorism is deliberate. This time signals the beginning of agricultural harvesting. Beyond a crucial economic activity, it constitutes an important communal and national occasion that shows resilience under military rule. Exactly for these reasons, year after year colonists target Palestinian farmers throughout this crucial period. During the 2024 harvest season, rights groups recorded 113 separate cases of violence, intimidation, harvest-thwarting, or damage to olive trees and produce involving settlers and soldiers, which occurred on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian-owned villages, municipalities, and communities.

Israeli military appeared to have played a larger part in obstructing the olive harvest

The human rights group also found that "Israel's military seemed to have played a larger part in obstructing the harvesting season". In about 70% of cases where access to farmland was violently blocked, troops, border police officers, and settler security officials were physically present. They either personally prevented Palestinians from accessing and gathering their own lands, or failed to stop settlers who harassed or assaulted them.

Government Backing for Settler Activities

This comes as no surprise, as the head of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an additional official in the Ministry of Defence responsible for the territorial coordination unit. In Umm al-Khair, for instance, a special COGAT unit removed personally-owned olive plants of local residents, citing missing documentation, but overlooked violations by an illegal adjacent colonist encampment. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to halt all building work in the encampment, which was built on property taken by Israeli authorities and unlawfully transferred to settlers.

Annexation Ambitions and International Reaction

In the occupied West Bank, settler terrorism is simply a tool used by the government to achieve practical annexation. Recently, Smotrich led a march of thousands of colonists in support of annexation the West Bank. He was quoted as saying, "We persist to establish presence with our feet of the Land of Israel with many pioneers, numerous heroes, and countless of settlers who live in this part of the land ... we must to normalize it and make it eternal."

The colonists and their supporters in the Knesset are clear about their intentions and intentions. Why, then, do government officials in the west hesitate from substantial penalties and political actions? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in the summer, but the effect of the penalty has been limited. He may not be able to travel to the UK and visit the London's entertainment district, but he still maintains the ministerial power to take lands in the West Bank. Remarkably in the announcement of sanctions, the UK highlighted they apply "personally" only.

Global Acknowledgment and Reality

If the British administration recognizes the truth of colonist aggression and its grave consequences on Palestinian life, why does it still permit goods from settlements to be sold in stores and outlets in the UK? If the British leader is serious about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a state, how can he allow the Israeli government to violate its independence with such violent means? Or was the acknowledgment an hollow ploy to shut down opposition in the United Kingdom, a meaningless act only to be realised in the relabeling of some cartographic representations?

Pathway to Genuine Resolution

A fair peace must honor the fundamental entitlements of the Palestinian people for self-determination, sovereignty, and liberty from military occupation and blockade. Only when every human being's dignity between the Jordan River and sea is honored can we truly declare reconciliation has been attained.

True resolution requires an sovereign Palestinian state next to the Israeli state: this is the only solution that enjoises consensus among the global community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace camp.

The former US president may have inflicted influence on Netanyahu to halt the violence, but he probably only did so because the strain of his relationship with the isolated government of Netanyahu had become too great. The mass protests throughout the globe for the liberation of Palestine, and the unwavering anti-government protests within the country, are the real factors behind this pressure.

It is thanks to this enormous civil movement that a truce has been agreed, the captives freed, and the people of Gaza can enjoy safeguard from annihilation. Following the truce arrangement has been signed, it is vital to keep maintaining this pressure. The international community has ignored to the atrocities in Gaza for many years; it must not repeat the same mistake in the occupied territories.